Sunday, October 31, 2010

In the waning hours of Halloween 2010, I thought it would be fitting to share this curious 45 (though technically only the sleeve art and "October October" make a tangible reference to the holiday). Let it be known, there is no Pep Lester, at least as far as this record is concerned, but there is however Jad Fair who performs on three of the four tracks, with a bloke named Phil Milstein fronting and writing for this collaboration, which in total involves the efforts of thirteen individuals (not performing as an ensemble on any given "song" mind you). Discogs.com summarizes Milstein's career as such:

Tape manipulator, collagist, solo musician (as Pep Lester), member of Mommy, 7 or 8 Wormhearts and Uzi. He also played with Cul De Sac on their debut album Ecim in 1992.

Milstein's qualifications aside, any project involving Jad Fair is bound to be a little grating or askew, and this is no different. Jack-O-Lantern Moon is a-melodic as fuck, art-damaged avant noodling that can only pass for rock and roll in the loosest sense of the term. Standup bass, theremin, and toy xylophones, oh my! Akin to a Sonic Youth side project, or the band Stump. A nifty passage from "October October," "Who needs drugs when we have the fall?" helps sum up the group's crooked aesthetic.

01. Do It Yourself
02. Nothing for Granted
03. October October
04. Rebby

I'm afraid I don't have the single you speak of, but I may have a single by a Jad Fair related project called Mosquito. In fact, Steve Shelley was in this particular group, but what I heard didn't make much of an impression. If I'm able to dig it up, I'll consider posting it sometime.